​

 

​Interviews

​

'

‘If you could pass on a piece of advice to a budding scriptwriter, what would this be?’

​

I’d say don’t run way with the idea that you actually need much advice. Have a little faith and confidence in yourself. By all means read a few books on the subject, take a course, seek some feedback but if you overdo it the first impediment to your progress will be yourself. There really is no substitute for simply writing.

​

Have a word with yourself: do you really need all the gnomic insights, the input of people who, when you look closely, may well turn out to have written much less than you, the validation of others? You need to cultivate that inner voice that tells you when you’re deluding yourself of course but also when you’re being overly deferential to those who think they’re in a position to advise you, delaying things. ‘Don’t get it right, get it written’ (James Thurber) Watch the best tv dramas (and films), read the scripts, write.

​

(From an interview with Ruth Hunt, ‘The Writer on Wheels’)

​

 

 

​

'The highs since then? Getting 16.85 million viewers for a Touch of Frost would certainly be one of them.'

 

Russell’s interview with F.C. Malby here

​

​

​

 

'Teaching is a break from the day job. And it makes me reflect on how I’m approaching my own writing. I can’t stand in front of a class and tell them to do things I’m not always doing myself - although I give it my best shot.'

​

​